FRINGE: 4.20 Worlds Apart — REVIEW

Was “Worlds Apart” a rip-roaring continuation of seriable goodness, or was it all set-up for events to come? Read our review to find out..

THE GOOD

The development of the ongoing storyline.

The reemergence of the CorteXkids and ZFT mythology were good callbacks. It was interesting to see how they played into the ‘Jonesverse’ plans.

Ultimately, the concept of closing the Bridge was a strong story point, bringing things full circle.

It was important to bring the two Walters together before the Bridge closed. It’s a somewhat meek exit for Walternate (should that be the case), but at least his arc feels complete.

THE BAD

Walter figuring out David Robert Jones’ aims from a dream — off-screen at that. While this could be interesting, it seems pretty contrived, for the moment at least.

The episode wasn’t as exciting as it threatened to be.

The Peter/Walternate goodbye was disappointing. After everything, Peter still treats the man as though he pooped in his cereal.

The final scene was a touch anticlimactic.

THE OVEREVIEW

There’s surely no better place to pick up where the Broylnate/mole storyline left off than at the Boom-Boom-Machine. It may have been blowing smoke but at least Walter saw fit to wear a tie for the occasion.

It was good to see the major Fringe Division players at the Bridge summit. Not only was this significant in conveying DRJ’s threat, but both Walters were present this time around, reinforcing how far they’ve both come since spitting feathers at one another in “The Day We Died”.

DRJ’s use of Cortexiphan kids to achieve his goal of creating a new world worked for me as a plot point and seemed rather brilliant on his part. He’s not only unearthed them but given them the tools to channel their abilities.

I find myself intrigued by Walter’s view of Jones, perhaps due to their shared backstory-at-a-distance, or maybe because DRJ *swoon* really is one of the few minds capable of matching, if not surpassing, Dr. Bishop. He seems to recognize this by admitting “I underestimated him,” which plays into Jones’ obsession with being “special”. Given all that he’s achieved so far, it’s amazing to think he was killed relatively easily by Peter at the gates of over here. Special, yes, but he’s also a man of circumstance.

While I don’t think Nick has ever truly recaptured what he had in “Bad Dreams”, his return to the fold worked well enough. It was pretty cool seeing Olivia and Alt-Nick’s empathic sync-up. More important was getting Nick’s motivation for working for Jones, which I found pretty solid given his instability.

Bellie and Walter recreated powerful beings and left them in the wilderness. Jones manipulated their sense of helplessness and isolation into one of great purpose. If he can convince people to turn themselves into flying Sonic the Hedgehog’s then empowering humans with natural and unnatural ‘super powers,’ under the guise of saving their world, probably isn’t too difficult for Jones.

I’m glad the episode didn’t go down the more predictable route with Nick being swayed from his purpose with Jones. The tea-total genius has always surrounded himself with those who are loyal to the end. Still, it was interesting to see Nick being made to question his loyalty.

The decision the close the Bridge was a bit flappy, but still carried a certain poignancy, witnessing both Walters basically curled up in the fetal position is not something you see every day. The possibility of losing Peter again all too palpable for both of them, though as Walter noted: “I’ve come to accept that hes not ours.”

This is one of those moments where the sense of journey kicks in, and where Peter’s ‘sacrifice’ in the BBM feels more poignant, not just in healing the universes, but the people in them. It’s as though the both Walters needed an external mirror of their son to understand the internal bonds they share. We may or may not be dealing with ciphers in this recontextualized timeline, but their ability to grow from their past iterations says something in itself.

The final goodbyes were kind of touching, especially as it sunk in that I might never see Red’s peacoat again. Sure, Olivia’s “keep looking up” was a spoonful of syrup I could have done without, but the overall the sentiment behind the dissolution needed to play towards the emotion. Perhaps it could have felt less forced, but sometimes you just have to roll with it.

Like the episode before it, “Worlds Apart” felt very much like the opening gambit of an extended push. “It’s time,” indeed, to face brave new worlds.

ANSWERS

Lincolnate knew Alt-Nick from school.

MYSTERIES

Will we see the alternate universe Fringe team again? Is this the end of the road taken for Lincoln Tyrone Lee and his expert skills?

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Best Moment: The Bridge goodbyes.

Best Performer: John Noble

Best Quotable: “The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.” (Walternate to Walter)

was a good episode but one thing remains disapointing on “fringe” all along the way: they allmost didn’t show the Boom-Boom machine. hellooooo! this is the most interesting thing on the show, it’s what i’m waiting for every episode, what’s up with that??? we want to see more of the machine, more of the use of it, and more “Peter-in-the-machine” moments!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I believe that this is not Jones’ plan, it’s Bell’s… he was the one who really believed that “a war is coming”, the same war Nick Lane was talking about. And he is a lot smarter than Jones. I don’t think Walter underestimated Jones, Walter just has no idea that it’s William who actually pulls the strings.

I don’t understand why people are saying that the “Keep looking up” with the rainbow stuff was cheesy or something. It wasn’t just about the rainbow. Of course, it is a beautiful phenomenon and we all love watching it. They lost this privilege so it’s kind of sad. But I felt that the rainbow was brought up more to symbolize HOPE. After it rains, after a turmoil, after grey times you look up and see the rainbow, see the hope, that things can get better.
To me, what Olivia told Altliv, was more like I know you’re world is still broken, breaking the Bridge will stop the healing, it must be hard to see your people go through this, but don’t lose hope, things must work out in the end, things must get better, you just have to never stop fighting, never stop hoping. It was just a typical Dunham advice.

Well, Roco, while I too share with you the feeling of a somewhat anticlimatic ending, I have to disagree about the fact that you find this a bad thing. Why? the entire episode was about the emotional connections among the characters, that was the intended goal. No other episode of fringe has made me cry before… this was the first one!!! And yes I’m a woman but I do not cry that easily, specially not with ficitional stories!
The concilliation between both walters did it! That was a profound moment! And thank god Peter didn’t dissapear again!!! That would have made the series redundant and almost inexplicable.
I don’t think any of the emotional connections were forced…they have been getting along for a while now, and it is a suitable conclusion.
Again, disagree on your interpretation of the good bye between walter and peter. Although I wanted them to give each other a big hug, THAT would have been contrived!!! walter is still not the walter peter has lived with for the past 3 years. And walter is trying to let him go.
Other than that, agree with your other points.